Asia’s banks on data science recruitment drive

Banks and financial firms in Asia are stepping up the search for data scientists to help meet customer demand for more flexible banking and payment services.

The trend is fuelled by major players such as JP Morgan, Citi and Deutsche Bank expanding their teams in Hong Kong and Singapore. Goldman Sachs has also increasing its big data footprint with a $56m investment in Singapore-based Antuit Holdings, an analytics company.

It’s not just consumer and business banking sectors that are on the hunt for treasury and fintech talent. Wealth management and investment banks are also looking to data science insights to improve their offerings.

“With the advent of mobile and online payment platforms, banks in Asia are seeing a very real threat to their traditional core business and are now fully embracing big data,” explains Christine Wright, managing director of recruitment consultancy Hays in Asia.

With demand outstripping supply, the data science gold rush is also pushing up wages sharply and is encouraging companies to look to those outside of their usual recruitment pool. This means that candidates from e-commerce and telecoms are also being considered alongside those from more traditional financial services backgrounds.

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